JP5254884B2 - Method for transferring data from a plurality of SIM-less communication modules - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates generally to the field of data transfer over wireless circuit switched telecommunications networks. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for transferring data from a plurality of SIM-less communication modules to a data processing station through a wireless circuit switched telecommunications network.

Conventional technology

  During the past decades, the demand for data capacity of telecommunications networks has shown a further increase. Telecommunications providers are modifying their networks to expand and provide services to meet the demands of their customers.

  An example of such a service relates to the field of machine-to-machine communication (M2M). M2M applications typically require hundreds or thousands of communication modules, but these rarely require access to a telecommunications network. As an example, there is an electronic reading of an electric meter, for example, at home, with a large number of customer bases. Other examples include sensors, meters, beverage machines, etc. that can be equipped with communication modules that allow for reporting status information to a data processing station through a telecommunications network. The data processing station may, for example, store data and / or define a schedule for maintenance personnel to repair machines, instruments, sensors, etc.

  Although M2M communication maintains the guarantee of efficiency, a large-scale implementation is not economically reasonable unless the cost of connection with a communication module or data processing station is reduced.

  One approach to reducing M2M communication costs is to avoid a subscriber identity module (SIM) card in the communication module. Operators of telecommunications networks can save on the cost of SIM cards, assign telephone numbers to such communication modules, and reserve capacity in the telecommunications network's home location register (HLR). No longer needed.

  U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/023689 discloses a method for deploying a SIM mechanism in a digital wireless terminal device without using an actual SIM card. The SIM mechanism can be downloaded to the terminal device through the data communication network. When the user connects a power source to the terminal, the start function located in the terminal detects the absence of the SIM mechanism and subsequently activates the SIM download processing application. The download processing application queries the user for the identifier of the subscriber connection. The user provides an identifier from the keyboard of the terminal device, and based on this identifier, the terminal device uses the device information to form user identifier information in addition to the identifier provided by the user. The identifier information is transmitted over the data communication network to the management function, which receives it and finds that the inquiring subscriber has the right to download the SIM mechanism to his terminal equipment. If the subscriber does not have the right to download the SIM mechanism in the network, the terminal device is blocked and the SIM download processing application makes a similar attempt in the next discovered network.

  At the same time, the user interface of the terminal device is delayed due to showing the “SIM loading” message. A data communication connection is formed between the terminal device and the management functionality to perform data transmission and download SIM data to the terminal device. The terminal equipment receives the SIM data and stores it in its memory device. When the terminal device finishes downloading everything, the SIM application is activated in the terminal device. If the SIM download processing application of the terminal device has successfully downloaded all the SIM data to be downloaded and stores it in the terminal device, the terminal device is updated. The terminal device user interface is then released to allow the user to perform normal steps, such as a terminal device authentication step in the data communication network.

  Although the SIM card is not mounted in the prior art terminal device in the initial state, it is obvious that the disadvantage of the M2M application is not solved by the prior art method. This is because telephone numbers must still be assigned to different terminals, and in order for such terminals to obtain the maximum functionality of the mobile telephone, HLR capacity must be ensured.

  An object of the present invention is to create a concept of a communication unit that can be used for cost effective M2M communication and does not require a SIM.

  A method is proposed for transferring data from at least a first communication module and a second communication module to a first data processing station and a second data processing station, respectively. Transfers data through a circuit-switched telecommunications network. A first connection request for accommodating a first pre-provided telephone number from the first communication module; and a second connection request for accommodating a second pre-provided telephone number from the second communication module. In a network, for example, in a mobile switching center (MSC). The first telephone number and the second telephone number are processed in the network to restrain the network from authenticating the first communication module and the second communication module to connect to the telecommunications network. Subsequently, based on the first connection request and the second connection request, a first circuit-switched data connection and a second circuit-switched data connection with the first communication module and the second communication module, respectively, are established for data reception. To do. Data can be routed from the first communication module to the first data processing station and from the second communication module to the second data processing station, respectively, depending on the first telephone number and the second telephone number.

  The applicant also proposes a telecommunication network for carrying out such a method, a communication module operating in such a method, and the use of such a communication module in such a method or telecommunication network. To do.

  The applicant's proposal was triggered by a standardized emergency call functionality for mobile phones. Operators of telecommunications networks will be able to use a specific (often shortened) phone number and make a call to access the SIM card, even if the mobile phone does not have a SIM card If not, you can send an alert to emergency services. The mobile phone selects the telecommunications network that receives the strongest signal. Mobile phones are allowed to access this telecommunications network without authentication. An example of this approach is provided in WO2003 / 037026.

  In the application of M2M, since no SIM card is required for the communication module, it is not necessary to assign a number to the communication module, and it is not necessary to secure the HLR capacity, resulting in a significant cost reduction. For the transfer of data, an essential telecommunication network is assigned in the communication module. The telephone number also indicates the routing of data to each of the data processing stations. Also, in contrast to emergency call functionality, the telephone number assigned to the data processing station can be a long number, eg, a number selected from a range of MSISDN numbers. Because this phone number does not need to be remembered.

  An alternative to the foregoing method is defined in claim 10, in which a single telephone number is used to route data to the data processing station and an identifier such as the IMEI of the communication module is required. Data processing is shown. Alternative embodiments may be used, for example, in situations where it is not appropriate to assign a specific telephone number to a specific set of communication modules.

  The embodiment of claim 2 provides the advantage of assigning internal network addresses, which increases flexibility.

  The embodiment of claim 3 has the advantage that the communication module belongs to a predefined network configured to transfer data accordingly to the data processing station. The default network is indicated by a mobile network code (MNC).

  The embodiment of claim 4 does not require the communication modules to be continuously connected to the network, which provides the advantage of saving network resources. In M2M applications, it is common for communication modules to rarely have data to send.

  The embodiments of claims 5 and 6 further consider distinguishing data from different communication modules. The IMEI of claim 5 can be used to distinguish based on the communication module from which the data was acquired, an example of which is defined in claim 7. The application code of claim 6 makes it possible to distinguish data relating to the type of application from which the data was acquired, the latter being suitable, for example, for a communication module reporting data from several different sensors.

  The embodiment of claim 8 provides for access to the telecommunications network, data transfer, and / or if the subscriber, typically the organization requesting data processing, lacks SID card data from the communication module. It offers the advantage that it can be charged for data processing.

  The embodiment of claim 9 provides the advantage that existing telecommunications networks can be employed to apply M2M communication.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail. However, it should be appreciated that these embodiments should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a data transmission system in a machine-to-machine communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a communication module according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a network server for use in the system of FIG.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a machine-to-machine (M2M) system 1 comprising a plurality of communication modules 2A-2D. The communication modules 2A and 2B are used by the first institution I and can be used, for example, to transmit electricity usage data of an electricity meter to the data processing station 3A and issue an annual electricity bill. The communication modules 2C, 2D are used by the second institution II to monitor the operation of installation machines, such as beverage vending machines or printers, and to provide status to the second data processing station 3B for service and maintenance purposes. Can be reported to.

The base stations 4 and 5 are installed in the communication areas 2A to 2D, and include these modules in the effective range. Base station 4 is part of a circuit switched telecommunications network 6. The base station 5 may be part of another communication network (not specifically shown). Telecommunication network 6 identifies itself by broadcasting its mobile network code (MNC) in combination with a mobile country code (MCC). Telecommunications network 6, GSM (registered trademark), may be a UMTS or other circuit switched wireless access network.

  The telecommunication network 6 comprises a mobile switching center (MSC) 7 as is well known. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the MSC 7 accesses a further network 8 or a collection of networks, such as the Internet, and transmits data from the communication modules 2A-2D to the telecommunications network 6 and the further network 8. To the data processing stations 3A and 3B. It will be appreciated that the telecommunications network 6 and the further network 8 may be the same network.

  2 and 3 present schematic diagrams of the communication module 2 and the MSC 7, respectively.

  The communication module 2 includes the sensor 10 or is connected to the sensor 10 in a communication state. The communication module 2 may comprise a plurality of, possibly functionally different, sensors or be connected in communication with them. The sensor 10 monitors the operation of another instance, such as a device or room, and / or receives its data. The communication module 2 has a processing unit 11. The processing unit 11 comprises a timer module 12 and / or an incident detector 13. Furthermore, the communication module 2 includes a non-detectable memory unit 14. The undetectable memory unit 14 comprises one mobile network code MNC 6 of the telecommunication network 6 and a number, for example 116, for connection to the telecommunication network 6. Furthermore, the memory unit comprises an international mobile equipment identifier (IMEI), for example IMEI 1 of the communication module 2A. There may be an application identifier. The communication module 2 also comprises a transmitter 15 for wireless access to the wireless part of the telecommunications network 6.

  The communication device 2 does not have a telephone number (MSISDN) for receiving telephone calls or messages or an international mobile subscriber identifier (IMSI) for attachment to a telecommunications network. The communication device 2 is configured not to require a conventional subscriber personal information module (SIM). The information stored in the undetectable memory module 14 is sufficient for the communication module 2 to perform its function as an M2M communication module. Customers such as agencies I, II can use the stored MNC (and possibly the data processing station / service telephone number), for example, from the operator of the telecommunications network 6 to the telecommunications of the base station 5. By changing to the network operator, the network operator can be easily changed.

  Necessary information can be programmed in the communication module 2 by a plurality of methods. The communication module 2 can also preprogram information such as the MNC and telephone number. The required MNC may be supplied to the communication module 2 using a data carrier such as a SIM card. The SIM card may then be removed or not removed.

  The MSC 7 schematically shown in FIG. 3 comprises means 20, 21 for communicating with the telecommunications network 6 and another network 8. The MSC 7 includes a processing unit 22 that performs the requested operation. The MSC 7 further includes a memory unit 23 and a charging module 24. The MSC 7 includes or can access the database 25. The database 25 includes information on addresses of appropriate data processing stations (DPC) 3A and 3B used for each telephone number in communication requests from the communication modules 2A to 2D.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the operation of the M2M system can be as follows.

  The timer module 12 of the institution I communication module 2A instructs the sensor 10 to read the value of the electricity meter at a particular house and determine the annual electricity bill. The timer module 12 of the engine I communication module 2B performs the same function for another electric meter.

  The accident detection module 13 of the communication module 2C of the institution II detects that the sensor 10 has registered the malfunction of the printing apparatus of the institution. The accident detection module 13 of the communication module 2D detects a malfunction of the communication module 2D itself.

  As a result, the communication modules 2A to 2D have data to be transmitted to either the data processing station 3A of the institution I or the data processing station 3B of the institution II. Assume that institutions I and II are both customers of the operator of telecommunications network 6.

  Despite the fact that other communication networks may also be available (for example, for communication modules 2C and 2D, the signal strength of the telecommunications network of base station 5 is greater than that of base station 4 of telecommunications network 6). All communication modules 2A-2D are forced to establish a connection with the telecommunication network 6 if there is data to report. To accomplish this, the required MNC of the telecommunications network 6 is programmed into the memory 14 of the communication modules 2A-2D.

  In addition, the memory 14 of the communication modules 2A-2D provides a pre-provided telephone number, eg “116” for modules 2A, 2B to set up a circuit switched connection to the data application stations 3A, 3B. , And "117" is accommodated for modules 2C and 2D, respectively. A communication request containing these numbers is recognized in the telecommunication network 6 as a request that may omit the authentication. This information is known, for example, in MSC7. The authentication step performs security functions and involves the exchange of authentication triplets (in GSM) or quintets (in UMTS), but is omitted for special pre-provided numbers for authentication purposes. However, this information is still used for data encryption. It should be noted that the telecommunications network 6 as in this embodiment can provide a number of telephone numbers that can be used to access the telecommunications network without authentication.

  Upon receiving a connection request having a telephone number provided in advance, the MSC 7 obtains routing information about data from the database 25. For modules 2A, 2B connected at "116", the processor 22 of the MSC 7 knows that the data must be routed to the data processing station 3A, whereas for modules 2C, 2D connected at "117" It can be seen that the data must be routed to the data processing station 3B. Subsequently, the data can be routed to the appropriate data processing stations 3A, 3B using the addresses DPC3A, DPC3B. The data processing stations 3A, 3B have now obtained annual communication charges from the communication modules 2A, 2B and 2C, 2D in order to determine the annual electricity bill, service the printing device, and further repair the communication module 2D. Data can be processed.

  Each communication module 2A-2D also includes an identifier, for example, a hardware identifier such as an IMEI of the communication module, and / or an application identifier. The identifier can also be transmitted to the telecommunications network 6 along with the connection request. In other words, the communication module 2A transmits IMEI1, the communication module 2B transmits IMEI2, the communication module 2C transmits IMEI3, and the communication module 2D transmits IMEI4.

  The identifiers IMEI1, IMEI2, IMEI3, and IMEI4 of the communication modules 2A to 2D that use the transmitter 15 are received by the receiving means 20 of the MSC 7 through the telecommunication network 6, respectively. The MSC 7 is transparent to the IMEI identifier.

  However, the identifier may be used to distinguish the data of the communication modules 2A to 2D in the data processing stations 3A and 3B. IMEI may also be used for authentication at the data processing station.

  Assume that institutions I and II have decided to use the same telephone number “116” to access telecommunications network 6. Since the routing of the data to the data processing station is based on the telephone number, the data from the communication modules 2A-2D can only reach the data processing station 3A. In order to distinguish the data for the communication modules 2A, 2B on the one hand and the data for the communication modules 2C, 2D on the other hand, the data can be separated using an identifier in the data processing station 3A. It will be appreciated that the distinction of data may be based on, for example, an application level identifier, a combination of IMEI and application level service identifiers, or other identifiers of the communication module 2.

  Of course, if these identifiers can be acquired by the MSC 7, the MSC 7 can also distinguish data based on the identifiers.

  The institutions I and II can be charged using the charging module 24 of the network server 7. Charging may be executed according to a contract between the operator of the telecommunication network 6 and the customers I and II based on the number of established connections, the amount of transmitted data, the number of communication devices, and the like.

  Since the communication modules 2A to 2D do not have a built-in SIM card, data cannot be transmitted from the network 6 to the communication modules 2A to 2D. However, when the time when the communication modules 2A to 2D connect to the network is known (for example, because the communication module connects to the network according to the time schedule), the data is transferred from the network 6 to the communication modules 2A to 2D. You can also use that connection.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Machine-to-machine (M2M) system 2A-2D Communication module 3A 1st data processing station 3B 2nd data processing station 4, 5 Base station 6 Circuit switching telecommunication network 7 Mobile switching center (MSC)
8 Another network 10 Sensor 11 Processing unit 12 Timer module 13 Incident detector 14 Undetectable memory unit 20, 21 Communication means 22 Processing unit 23 Memory unit 24 Billing module 25 Database

Claims (14)

A method of transferring data through a circuit switched telecommunications network from at least a first communication module and a second communication module to a first data processing station and a second data processing station, respectively, in the telecommunications network,
Receiving a first connection request containing a first pre-provided telephone number from the first communication module and receiving a second connection request containing a second pre-provided telephone number in the second communication; Receiving from the module, the first telephone number and the second telephone number, the circuit switched telecommunications network connecting the telecommunications network with the first communication module and the second communication module, respectively. A step that indicates that you should restrain yourself from authenticating
A first circuit switched data connection and a second line with the first communication module and the second communication module for receiving the data in response to the first connection request and the second connection request, respectively; Establishing an exchange data connection;
-Routing the data from the first communication module to the first data processing station based on the first telephone number and the second telephone number, respectively, and the data from the second communication module Routing to a second data processing station;
With
A third communication module is provided for transferring data to the first data processing station and configured to transmit a third connection request using the first telephone number;
Each of the first connection request, the second connection request, and the third connection request comprises a unique device identifier, such as IMEI, for the communication module;
The method includes: at the first data processing station, based on the unique identifier of the first communication module and the unique identifier of the third communication module, from the first communication module and the third communication module. The method further comprising the step of distinguishing data. The method of claim 1, wherein the telecommunications network comprises a switching module, the method comprising:
Obtaining, by the switching module, addresses of the first data processing station and the second data processing station, respectively, based on the first telephone number and the second telephone number;
-Routing the data from the first communication module to the first data processing station, respectively, according to the addresses of the first data processing station and the second data processing station, and from the second communication module; Routing the data to the second data processing station;
A method.   3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first communication module and the second communication module include a mandatory operator code of the telecommunications network and the first telephone number for use in the connection request. And the second telephone number is preprogrammed, respectively.   4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first connection request and the second connection request are received at a pre-programmed time or triggered by a pre-programmed incident. 5. And received at the second communication module.   The method according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the first connection request and the second connection request comprises an application code.   6. The method of claim 5, wherein the transfer of data is charged based on at least one of the unique device identifier and application code.   The method according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the telecommunications network comprises a GSM / UMTS infrastructure. A method of transferring data from at least a first communication module and a second communication module to a first data processing station via a circuit switched telecommunications network,
Receiving a first connection request containing a first unique identifier from the first communication module and receiving a second connection request containing a second unique identifier from the second communication module; The first connection request and the second connection request should restrain the circuit-switched telecommunications network from authenticating the first communication module and the second communication module to connect to the telecommunications network. A phone number indicating that, step,
A first circuit switched data connection and a second line with the first communication module and the second communication module for receiving the data in response to the first connection request and the second connection request, respectively; Establishing an exchange data connection;
Routing the data from the first communication module and the second communication module to the first data processing station based on the telephone number;
-Processing said data from said first communication module at said first data processing station in response to said first unique identifier;
-Processing said data from said second communication module in said first data processing station in response to said second unique identifier;
A method. The method according to claim 8, comprising:
Obtaining an address of the first data processing station based on the telephone number;
-Routing the data from the first communication module and the second communication module to the first data processing station according to the address of the first data processing station;
A method.   10. The method of claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the first unique identifier and the second unique identifier comprise at least one of a unique device identifier, such as IMEI, and an application identifier. Is that way. 11. A method according to one or more of claims 8 to 10, further comprising one or more features of claims 3 to 7 .   A circuit switched telecommunications network configured to perform a method according to one or more of claims 1, 2, and 5 to 11.   A communication module configured to operate in the telecommunications network of claim 7 or claim 12, wherein the communication module has one mandatory operator code of the telecommunications network to transmit a connection request. A SIM-less communication module that is programmed and programmed to use only one telephone number, the one telephone number being used by the telecommunication network to connect to the telecommunication network A communication module that indicates that it should restrain itself from authenticating.   14. The communication module according to claim 13, comprising at least one of a timer and an incident detector, wherein the incident detector is detected at a specific time indicated by the timer or by the incident detector. A communication module that triggers the communication module to send the connection request in response to a received incident.

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